Good evening Fellow Fans of the Wiley Whimbrel. One of the things I most enjoy, simple sort that I am, is having someone see a new bird for the first time. Today the first group of birders on the Festival tour, led by the redoubtable Garth Riley, came out to Whimbrel Point around 10.30 this morning. Though Wayne Renaud and I had been out there since 5.30 we hadn't seen a single shorebird of any kind. Just a bunch of Common Loons, flying with their beaks open.
Now I think Whimbrels are a pretty big deal and if somebody who has never seen one buys into this and comes all the way out to the Point I darn well want them to get their first look. So it was with barely concealed disappointment that I met that expectant throng of budding birders.(sorry about the flowery language, I have a word program brought over from the old sod.) Now the longer I get to talk , it seems, the longer I want to go. There I was expounding my head off about Whimbrels and heaven knows what else, probably running around in circles flapping my arms and screaming "pip pip pip" , when the Whimbrels themselves bailed me out. Thirty one of the dear little fellows came swooping over the heads of our Group, calling loudly as they swooped! Never have I seen such a bunch of wide-eyed, open-mouthed folks. I distinctly heard oohs and ahhs and knew those people were getting their Whimbrel jollies for the first time. Guess I've seen thousands of those awesome birds in my life but I was right there with that little group of lucky people. Stuff like this starts off slow and builds on you until later on, you realise how wonderful it is. So that was our big Zen moment of the day. Later on we had a little orphan flock of six Whimbrels come back and forth many times, looking for a place to land. It was very quiet out there for a Saturday but even though we all did the Jean Iron crouch whenever they flew over, they never did come down. I don't know what does the trick for you, but I would have this day over as many times as I could. Wayne has granted me the day off tomorrow so obviously the poor lad hasn't got his full fix yet. Why don't you leave the golf clubs in the garage, go and help him out, and fill in the afternoon shift? Only a couple of days left now, before the Wild takes back its own for another season. Happy birding, Tim _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to [email protected] For information about ONTBIRDS including how to unsubscribe visit http://www.ofo.ca/site/page/view/information.ontbirdssetup Posting guidelines can be found at http://www.ofo.ca/site/page/view/information.ontbirdsguide
